Brazil top court upholds large Indian reserve in setback for farmers

October 23, 2013|Reuters

BRASILIA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Brazil's Supreme Court ruled onWednesday that the terms for the creation of one of thecountry's largest Indian reservations did not apply elsewhere,in a setback for agricultural interests hoping to limit theexpansion of reserves onto lucrative farmland.

In its decision, the court ratified the existence of theSerra do Sol reservation on the northern border with Venezuelaand Guyana.

But it ruled unanimously that 19 conditions it set in 2009for the formation of the 6,730-square-mile (17,430-square-km)reserve did not apply automatically in other disputes overIndian lands, although they could serve as precedents in futurecases.

Brazil's powerful farm lobby had hoped the extension toother areas of one of those conditions - banning an expansion ofthe land set aside - would restrict the government's ability toenlarge reservations onto land already occupied by farmers.

Hundreds of conflicts have erupted in rural Brazil as thegovernment tries to follow a constitutional mandate and createIndian reserves on land often already claimed by farmers orcattle ranchers. The conflicts have become worse as Brazil'sagricultural frontier moves north toward the Amazon basin.

Indian rights activists welcomed the ruling.

"It consolidated the Serra do Sol reservation and reduced chances of these conditions being used in a negative way inother cases," said Marcio Santilli, head of a non-profitconservationist group dedicated to the defense of indigenouscultures and habitats.

Some 20,000 Indians, mostly of the Macuxi tribe, live on thereservation in the state of Roraima. Rice farmers resistedleaving the areas when the reservation was created by decree in2005, and the case went to the Supreme Court.

In 2009, the court ruled that the reservation should beinhabited only by indigenous people, and non-indigenousinhabitants were forced out. But among other conditions, thecourt established that the reservations could not be enlarged.

In Wednesday's ruling, the court clarified that thereservation could be expanded but that the state could notexpropriate additional land by decree and must compensate itsowners.

The court also established that the Indians of Serra do Solcould extract minerals for cultural ornaments and jewelrywithout government authorization, but would need a permit ifthey engaged in commercial mining.